Going Huntin'

By now you already know [Omesh Hiraman], the St. Johns University wannabe gunman who was arrested on charges of bringing a loaded rifle onto the school’s Queens campus. This wasn’t just any rifle, though. Police said they suspected the rifle, apparently built to resemble a [Georgian-era shotgun](http://www.nysun.com/article/63527), was filled with gunpowder at the time of the arrest and is a “very, very powerful weapon.” No, he wasn’t hunting people, he was just about to go pheasant hunting on his estates right after school. Right?

Students, including an NYPD cadet, Chris Benson, noticed the .50-cal rifle in Hiraman’s plastic bag and the rubber President Bush mask streaked in red he was wearing. According to the New York Sun, Benson apparently tailed Hiraman and tackled him, wresting the gun away and assisting campus police in the arrest. The school was locked down for three hours after the arrest at 2:30 p.m. while police searched the campus, and, within eight minutes, text messages were sent to every student and faculty member. A [police source said], “He said he wanted to carry a gun and…feel powerful. He said he wasn’t looking to hurt anyone.”

Hiraman’s family, for their part, denies any wrongdoing by Omesh, claiming, “He was always a good boy.”